| The year 2008 marked not only the historic first-time nomination, and subsequent election of the first African American for the Presidency of the United States; it also represented the 30th anniversary of the landmark case of the Regents of the University of California versus Allan Bakke. The 1978 dispute involved a white medical school applicant, Bakke, who sued the university after receiving his second letter of rejection and learning the institution maintained a "special admission program", which held sixteen out of one hundred seats for underrepresented minority students. Bakke asserted that he was a victim of "reverse discrimination" because his overall test scores were higher than those of the minority students admitted as part of the "special program", concluding he was denied the opportunity to attend UCD because he was white. What followed was series of twists and turns culminating with Bakke's admittance into UCD, confusion on the part of universities across the country struggling to determine how the case would affect their missions as institutions of higher education, and a fractured Supreme Court, many would say country, forced to ask very tough questions about what equality really meant.;Thirty years later, debates continue to be filled with raw emotion with the average citizen acting as impassioned advocate for their respective side of the issue. In an attempt to offer a unique framework by which important questions about equality can be analyzed, social psychologist William Ryan offers two paradigms for the concept of equality and fairness, Fair Shares and Fair Play. According to Ryan, Fair Players, the most enduring viewpoint in America, support meritocracy and are resolute in their belief that every individual should have a right to pursue, but not necessarily attain happiness. Fair Sharers in contrast maintain that resources should be shared to ensure equality of rights to access. When high degrees of success are achieved by some racial minorities in America, it begs the question for Fair Players, is there still a need for affirmative action or are these achievements a testament to the success of the meritocracy? This thesis will apply Ryan's Fair Share, Fair Play context to the Bakke case to examine the values underlying both sides of the argument. In addition, the thesis will examine the outcomes of the Bakke case on admissions policies at selective colleges and universities to explore the need and the extent to which the policy is appropriate today. |
